confession

[Warrior]

We are all such a drop in the bucket anyway. The ones we need to be concerned about are so far out of our control its rediculous to even debate it. ICCAT,Politicians, Asians, Old Snow birds with septic tanks...whatever.
Ask any marine biologist-our concern should be the overall health of the ocean floor. Everyone understands the food chain, but no one cares about it. I'll invite anyone up here to Ft.Pierce, sometimes we have to go out to 500' to find good water...20 MILES In our case, $hit runs uphill.
So go ahead, debate all this BS about closed grounds, bouy gear, whatever because Its so F'd up out there in 10 years it won't matter anyway.

[quack quack]

Amen brother

[The BEAST]

Originally Posted by Warrior

We are all such a drop in the bucket anyway. The ones we need to be concerned about are so far out of our control its rediculous to even debate it. ICCAT,Politicians, Asians, Old Snow birds with septic tanks...whatever.

Exactly! And what has a tight lipped approach gotten you? THere is a truthful old adage... the squeaky wheel gets the grease!

[Broadbill-Pro]

Here are the email address's of Margo and Greg who attended the NMFS meeting. They are the people who advise NMFS Director Bill Hogarth on HMS.

margo.schule-haugen@noaa.gov


greg.fairclough@noaa.gov


Want to see a change, this is the door to knock on.

[PURPLE FEVER]

Maybe NOAA handed out permits for halloween. There are more than 4 boats bouy fishing now. And yes, lost gear becomes ghost gear and is an indiscriminate killer. You guys that are accepting this will get an eye opener when you cant find a place to fish anymore. :cry:

[Relentless33]

Originally Posted by The BEAST

What abso-freakin-lutely kills me is the ho hum

:twisted: =; [-X

It's absofreekenlutely or absofrigginlutely, depending on if you say freeken or friggin. :lol: :mrgreen: :biggrin:

:twisted:

[Relentless33]

Originally Posted by quack quack

Amen brother

[-( [-( [-X [-X #-o #-o

[rollin]

wow. i used to be the only one slamming comm. guys! :shock:

kidding, but seriously - i agree - the closed zone should be closed to all commercial fishing methods, and maybe to comm. fishing altogether - AND some real investigations concluding in arrests that send people to JAIL instead of a small fine that they will pay for with their next illegal catch would help alot. if a few of those illegal guys found they're a$$ in a jail cell eating cold baloney sandwiches for a year so, the rest would get the message.

again NOT slamming comm. guys, but the system needs serious help.

R

[reel life]

well if we are going to close the zone to all commercial fishing than maybe we should ban charters as well.
a bounty hunter is a bounty hunter after all is said and done.
the only permits out there have been available for years.
the last time i spoke to nmfs they were not looking to issue new ones.
and if recs get caught with the gear in the boat they will not like dealing with LT Dave or a host of others.

[The BEAST]

Originally Posted by reel life

well if we are going to close the zone to all commercial fishing than maybe we should ban charters as well.

Charters are paid for their service, taking sport fisherman fishing. We abide by sport fishing limits and fall under recreational categories. We are not allowed over-limit catches for sale at the fish house. You can have it your way too if you think that is intimidating to me. I fish for more than Swordfish and Sword fishing is a very small percentage of my business.

edited: I went through over a decade of not fishing for them, remember? Maybe not but you will again.

Capt. Jim
The BEAST

[reel life]

but you are still a bounty hunter, without catching fish you won't have to many return customers. and if we are going to stop swordfishing commercialy why stop there lets ban all commercial fishing and all chater fishing.
maybe we should ban all fishing after all
and for the record i am not a commercial fisherman or a charter captain at this time but who knows what the future holds

[The BEAST]

reel life,

You're getting a little over the edge here but I can assure you that short of banning fishing altogether you would not hurt me. Obviously you don't know of my conservation measures but I would venture a guess that I keep less fish than most everyone fishing on this forum. EXAMPLE: My customers are primarily from out of town and have no way to ship fish home economically. Most of my fishing is catch and release. Matter of fact, it is well known that I used to impose a 1 Swordfish boat limit on The BEAST until you all convinced me that this almighty "quota" was so almighty important. Actually, the opportunity still hasn't arisen to exceed my 1 fish boat limit. Usually my customers quit after boating one. I haven't boated as many fish this year as Jr. has in one week.

And you know what else. I would retire tomorrow if it meant that my grandsons could fish recreationally throughout their lives without worrying about commercial over-fishing.

So speak on. You are barking up the wrong tree here, Brother!

Capt. Jim
The BEAST

[Nightfighter]

Rollin, I have to give you credit dude.
You outed yourself to everyone about posting under bogus names just to stir chit up, and in the very same thread you get these boys all frenzied up again, feeding on each other.
You are F'ing classic, in a battle of wits, you are killing them. =D>
Go gitem boy I won't bust you any more. Go for it, the entertainment factor out weighs the legitimacy in your case.

Guys, all I can say is hook, line, and sinker. #-o

[Relentless33]

Originally Posted by The BEAST

I haven't boated as many fish this year as Jr. has in one week.


tree here, Brother!

Capt. Jim
The BEAST

8-[ 8-[ 8-[ :mrgreen:




Nice call on the brother -- BROTHER!!! :lol: :bounce:

[Captain Ollie]

I figured that there had to be some entertainment factor involved here.

Believe me, I'm always smiling as I'm typing.

[Relentless33]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

:eye:


:biggrin:

[catching]

Captain Jim,

Can you please clarify the one fish in the boat limit :?:

Does this mean you take a client out charge $$$$ to catch one fish and then head home :?: and give the client their money back since it was not the normal 6-8 hour trip? :shock:

Or do you stay out for the duration and catch more, and with a fish that has a very good chance of becoming a mud dart after having a long battle on rod and real and it dies anyway.

(Example Pumpkineaters slob that was supposed to be tagged but the battle was too long and the scientist deemed it not suitable to tag after the fish was bought to the boat)

I hate to say this but you are a hired gun to catch fish and probably half the fish you release do not make it anyway. So if you really want to help the fishery catch one keeper and head home and charge less.

Hell go out and troll around after one of the big Sailfish Tournaments and look at how many sails are floating around, I know I have found a few.

If we are going to ban commercial fishing for Swordfish you and any other charter captain are part of that category and should not be allowed to run Swordfish charters any longer.

You probably know the other charter guys are out there getting 6-10 fish a night on a good night. They might release them all but not all will make it to the next moonrise

All you guys are shooting yourselves in the foot by bringing this up on a public forum. All it will do is get all commercial fishing and charter fishing kicked off the grounds.

Which would be bad for everyone in South Florida since fishing charters is a big part of our tourism business.

And BP did you not just post your new ride and how tricked out it was. Looks like you tricked it out to be ready to kill plenty of Swords and bring them to market

Keep it up BP and you will convince us rec guys to keep all and any type of commercial fishing including charters out of the Straights including you and your new ride.

You have already admitted you were and probably still are one of the best Swordfisherman in the world so why would you not do it again to make some extra $$$ if you have access to a permit and can do it locally without having to travel the worlds ocean and be away from your family.

I have nothing agianst what either one of you do to put food on the table, but do not bash another person for doing the same thing and doing it legally.

[The BEAST]

catching,

You are over the edge too. You are trying to argue the most ludicrous point I have ever seen with one of the most conservation minded persons on this forum. You are a fool who cannot see when someone is on your side unless you are really not on the recreational side. I will answer your questions anyway.

Yes, I stay the duration of the trip unless they cry "uncle" which is normally what happens when 2 or 3 fish are caught. Yes, I used to release all but one. No, it has never been a problem with any of my customers. Consider this... You slap 3 legal Swords on the deck and I release 2 of the 3 that I catch. How can you tell me that mine "could be" mud darts when every damn one of yours is dead for sure? Are you that thick? Even if 1 of the 2 of my released fish does die I have a 33% better survival rate than you. Hell, if both of my release fish die I am no worse than you. Now give me your reasoning!?! I can't wait for this one. Are you now going to tell me that all your released fish survive?

The "other" charter guys who catch 6-10 on a good night still can't keep any more than you can. 3 is the rec limit that we must abide by also. So there is absolutely no difference in you and them. The buoy guys that catch 6-10 legal fish on that same night keep 6-10 legal fish, every dang one of them, releasing not a one for possible survival. You are more blind than Ray Charles!

Your sailfish statements were good too. In regards to your floating sailfish reference I wasn't sure whether you were saying that sailfish tournaments are fished by charter boats, or most sailfish caught by charter boats die, or most sailfish that are released die, or..or..or??? Is it your postion that with a life expectancy of 5 years none would ever die of old age and all floaters are definitely results of catch and release. I guess you keep your 1 legal sailfish per day and then quit fishing so you don't have any unwanted "mud darts", right. I have had many tags returned on Sailfish and 1 Swordfish, which defends my catch & release efforts.

As far as being a hired gun... To start with the local people who do or don't own boats have the right to hire a boat to go fishing and utilize "their" ocean as much as the person who does or doesn't own a car has the right to hire a taxi, ride a bus, or use the Metrorail to travel on "their" public streets. Do you realize that every out of state fisherman who charters a boat in S. Florida almost always rents a room, a car, eats at local restaurants, buys souvenir trinkets, while paying sales & bed taxes which in turn contributes to the overall tourist economy in your area. The money generated by tourism is the main reason why your azz doesn't pay state income tax. I can see YOUR next Florida Tourism Ad... C'mon down to sunny South Florida, the gamefish capitol of the world, but you aren't allowed to fish here! That'll work! Now, how does the commercial fisherman parlay into the welfare of the economy? He buys gear, bait, etc. at the local shops, as we do, and then takes all he can from the public waters we ALL fish and sells it back to the public. That is not an economic boon in any stretch of even your imagination.

Remember also that most on this forum are hired guns as well because the vast majority of recreational fisherman will take friends fishing for gas and expense money. You just got paid to take someone fishing. Difference in you and me is I have all the licensing, permits, and insurance to be called a charter for hire. You once were labeled an illegal charter for hire, an arrestable offense, by USCG standards but they relaxed that standard now, although still a gray area.

Either you are blind or are just thick headed to equate a charter fisherman to a commercial fisherman rather than a hired vessel for recreational fishing. If we were truly a commercial fishing operation I would be demanding the right to keep over the rec limit of fish and sell them also.

As I said before, Brother, I will give up charter fishing tomorrow and sell "blow boat" tackle at West Marine if they guarantee my 2 grandsons quality sport fishing with no commercial pressure. You won't hear that statement from a commercial fisherman.

Is your post a true indicator of your blind observations? You are as naive as we were in the 80's and 90's and will undoubtedly relive it again. The writing is on the wall and plain as the nose on your face. I will be here to tell you "I told you so!"

Capt. Jim
The BEAST

[Broadbill-Pro]

Catching,

If my new ride is designed for decimating swordfish, then that could be said for nearly everyones vessel on this forum. Cliff, knocks the sh#t out of the fish with a 23' CC. (thinking about this, I believe HASSP regulations require product to be kept in a controlled temp environment upon processing, I do not see boxes on these vessels to properly ice these fish) (USCG safety regulations for commercial vessels is another issue that is not being complied with, for one I think it is 18'' numbers on both sides and top, have not seen that on any bouy vessels).

I don't recall saying the best, but I have traveled more places and discovered more new fishing areas than most. There are plenty of forum members who know where I started and what I have caught. I don't need to pat my own back, but in the realm of offering information on here I'm sure I come off as a blow hard. Your SESC leaders know me, one only needs to ask if I am blowing smoke. If I were a fake, it would have been thrown all over this forum by now.

If I wanted to make a living swordfishing again, it would be on a grand scale. I have current offers in Brazil, Uruguay, Trinidad, South Africa, New Zealand, Austraila, Hawaii and here to run LL vessels. There comes a time when there is more to life than drifting the seas. If I decide to bouy fish, it would be to recover the costs of the new vessel and have fun. I have gainful employment and do not need fish money to survive.

Lastly, I am not bashing a legal fishermans right to work (you are not new to this forum, don't you retain things you read on here from past threads?) I am the biggest defender of commercial fisherman on this site. It is my opinion that from Marathon to Fort Pierce should be deemed a recreational catch area only. Is that opinion so much out of the main stream in this forum? The bouy vessels can operate where the LL operate, from Key West it is less distance to productive fishing grounds than here.

[quack quack]

The straights should be closed to PLL boats from Ket West to Jax :shock: That Marathon to Ft.pierce zone is what Rick from Bluewater was talking about :???:


OK thats it I am starting a new thread about what is going on out there :shock: